Thursday, 25 March 2010
Visitors Galore
Alex and my dearest friend Amanda just spent 10 days with me in London. It was a fun-filled week and a half, that is for sure...
Day 1: Friday- Amanda got in a day later than Alex so we went to go pick her up at Heathrow in the morning.... discovered that our friend from high school, who was visiting another friend from our high school, who was also studying here, was on the same flight as Amanda... small world. We left airport a little earlier than them and learned that Eva Longoria was also at the airport and they saw her walk by just as we had walked bye. Drats
After a couple hour cat-nap we went to High Tea at Kensington Palace... since mom enjoyed it so much, I figured A&A would love it too.. And they did. Afterwards, I showed them Kensington, where I go to school and High street where a lot of the local shopping is.
Later, we went to Oxford Circus to meet the two girls that went to our high school for a drink at a pub near her school. I played basketball and soccer with these two girls all through elementary school, middle school , and high school and it was just so bizarre that the three of us now were in London together! Very cool. The pub ended up being an older persons pub... so we felt a little out of place. In addition, Alex and Amanda were not adjusted to the time difference after a couple hours of being there. We went home short after I caught them both with their heads face planted on the pub table.
Day 2: Slept in till around lunch time then made our journey to the infamous BuRbErRy OUTLET! haaa it was in no man's land... East London, where I have never been before. My roommate had gone with her mom a week before and she got items that A& A adored and needed to have. We had to take the tube to one stop, switch to another line then catch a bus to Hackney Central. It was a good couple of hours truck over there. I honestly had no desire to go there, but I had to please the guests.
We walked around Hackney Central for a good 15 minutes, looking for the street we were suppose to look for. When we finally asked for directions... we realized this outlet was not in the best neighborhood. It was in a hidden, back alley warehouse! Eeeek.
Amanda and Alex were very successful at the outlet and got matching coats that would have been 500 dollars more expensive in America. Nailed it!
Later that evening.... we went to Arch Angel a couple blocks from where I live in Kensington with a couple of my friend from my program. It is the only place in my area that is open passed 23:00 hr. Alex met an Italian who thought she was Italian and proceeded to speak to her in Italian. As we were leaving the pub, an older man, dressed in a business suit, scooted up to Amanda in a green razor scooter and offered it to her for free. Obviously Amanda took and scooted all the way back to my dorm. It currently is sitting outside my door.
Day 3: Woke up at a decent hour and went to this pancake house that I had been meaning to go to since I had gotten here! The pancakes are different than they are in America. First of all, they are extremely thin pancakes that cover an entire plate. Also, if you ask for eggs or bacon or anything on the side like A & A did, they put it inside the pancake. Mine was fairly simple though because I just wanted fruit. But when I got my pancake I had a little treat on top as well.. Vanilla ICE CREAM!!! It was delicioussssss..
There was a celebration for St. Pattrick's day at Trafaglar Square that day. I figured we should go to get a little pre-party before we left for Dublin Tuesday. It was UNBELIEVABLE GORGEOUS out this day. I honestly don't think it has been that nice since I have been here. Perfect for parade and the Irish band that played in the middle of the square. The parade was pretty neat too. There were little irish dances, dancing throughout the street and men in bagpipes. Floats were playing irish music and older people were dancing along to the beat. Fun fun times
After we had the irish jig implanted into our brains, we made our way to the Madam Tussauds, wax museum in Westminster. It was SOO COOOL! I can't believe how real these people looked. They had different room scenarios where certain people were placed that made it more fun... for example... sports room for the athletes, office room for the presidents and pope and people of that sort. Pop room for musicians... The Beatles, Britney Spears, Bob Marely and my favorite Michael Jackson hung out in this room. I got a professional picture taken this him. There also was a red carpet room where the actors and actresses posed. It was a really entertaining museum and I am happy we went.
We had been walking around allllll day and hadn't eaten since breakfast. I decided to take them to our Tuesday night hang out in Piccadilly Circus, The SportsCafe! I had never gotten real food there before and it was surprisingly really good. It was also a really fun atmosphere because there was a rugby game going on and a football game so there were a lot of people and all the TVS were on and blaring. It was also cool because at our booth, there was a mini tv that we could catch some of the game on too.
Hung out there for quite some time, and then made our way to Leicester Square to go see Alice In Wonderland in 3D at the same theatre where the premier was held. THEEEE BESTT and most amazing theatre I have ever been too. So formal and decorative, I don't even know how to describe it but I felt like I was actually seeing a premier movie... I guess it makes sense. The movie itself was pretty cool.... a little different than what Disney Version but still quite entertaining. Meg and her parents met us there and watched the movie with us too.
Day 4: I had class this day so I sent Amanda and Alex to Harrods and the free museums right down the street.... later that night tho, we went to a free comedy show at a pub right next door to my street. Let me tell you, they looooveeeee making fun of Americans. We were the butt of most of the jokes! English people do have a different sense of humor than we do but after about a half an hour, we really got into it and it was hilarious!!!
Day 5: LEAVE FOR DUBLINNNNNNNNNN
Day 1: Friday- Amanda got in a day later than Alex so we went to go pick her up at Heathrow in the morning.... discovered that our friend from high school, who was visiting another friend from our high school, who was also studying here, was on the same flight as Amanda... small world. We left airport a little earlier than them and learned that Eva Longoria was also at the airport and they saw her walk by just as we had walked bye. Drats
After a couple hour cat-nap we went to High Tea at Kensington Palace... since mom enjoyed it so much, I figured A&A would love it too.. And they did. Afterwards, I showed them Kensington, where I go to school and High street where a lot of the local shopping is.
Later, we went to Oxford Circus to meet the two girls that went to our high school for a drink at a pub near her school. I played basketball and soccer with these two girls all through elementary school, middle school , and high school and it was just so bizarre that the three of us now were in London together! Very cool. The pub ended up being an older persons pub... so we felt a little out of place. In addition, Alex and Amanda were not adjusted to the time difference after a couple hours of being there. We went home short after I caught them both with their heads face planted on the pub table.
Day 2: Slept in till around lunch time then made our journey to the infamous BuRbErRy OUTLET! haaa it was in no man's land... East London, where I have never been before. My roommate had gone with her mom a week before and she got items that A& A adored and needed to have. We had to take the tube to one stop, switch to another line then catch a bus to Hackney Central. It was a good couple of hours truck over there. I honestly had no desire to go there, but I had to please the guests.
We walked around Hackney Central for a good 15 minutes, looking for the street we were suppose to look for. When we finally asked for directions... we realized this outlet was not in the best neighborhood. It was in a hidden, back alley warehouse! Eeeek.
Amanda and Alex were very successful at the outlet and got matching coats that would have been 500 dollars more expensive in America. Nailed it!
Later that evening.... we went to Arch Angel a couple blocks from where I live in Kensington with a couple of my friend from my program. It is the only place in my area that is open passed 23:00 hr. Alex met an Italian who thought she was Italian and proceeded to speak to her in Italian. As we were leaving the pub, an older man, dressed in a business suit, scooted up to Amanda in a green razor scooter and offered it to her for free. Obviously Amanda took and scooted all the way back to my dorm. It currently is sitting outside my door.
Day 3: Woke up at a decent hour and went to this pancake house that I had been meaning to go to since I had gotten here! The pancakes are different than they are in America. First of all, they are extremely thin pancakes that cover an entire plate. Also, if you ask for eggs or bacon or anything on the side like A & A did, they put it inside the pancake. Mine was fairly simple though because I just wanted fruit. But when I got my pancake I had a little treat on top as well.. Vanilla ICE CREAM!!! It was delicioussssss..
There was a celebration for St. Pattrick's day at Trafaglar Square that day. I figured we should go to get a little pre-party before we left for Dublin Tuesday. It was UNBELIEVABLE GORGEOUS out this day. I honestly don't think it has been that nice since I have been here. Perfect for parade and the Irish band that played in the middle of the square. The parade was pretty neat too. There were little irish dances, dancing throughout the street and men in bagpipes. Floats were playing irish music and older people were dancing along to the beat. Fun fun times
After we had the irish jig implanted into our brains, we made our way to the Madam Tussauds, wax museum in Westminster. It was SOO COOOL! I can't believe how real these people looked. They had different room scenarios where certain people were placed that made it more fun... for example... sports room for the athletes, office room for the presidents and pope and people of that sort. Pop room for musicians... The Beatles, Britney Spears, Bob Marely and my favorite Michael Jackson hung out in this room. I got a professional picture taken this him. There also was a red carpet room where the actors and actresses posed. It was a really entertaining museum and I am happy we went.
We had been walking around allllll day and hadn't eaten since breakfast. I decided to take them to our Tuesday night hang out in Piccadilly Circus, The SportsCafe! I had never gotten real food there before and it was surprisingly really good. It was also a really fun atmosphere because there was a rugby game going on and a football game so there were a lot of people and all the TVS were on and blaring. It was also cool because at our booth, there was a mini tv that we could catch some of the game on too.
Hung out there for quite some time, and then made our way to Leicester Square to go see Alice In Wonderland in 3D at the same theatre where the premier was held. THEEEE BESTT and most amazing theatre I have ever been too. So formal and decorative, I don't even know how to describe it but I felt like I was actually seeing a premier movie... I guess it makes sense. The movie itself was pretty cool.... a little different than what Disney Version but still quite entertaining. Meg and her parents met us there and watched the movie with us too.
Day 4: I had class this day so I sent Amanda and Alex to Harrods and the free museums right down the street.... later that night tho, we went to a free comedy show at a pub right next door to my street. Let me tell you, they looooveeeee making fun of Americans. We were the butt of most of the jokes! English people do have a different sense of humor than we do but after about a half an hour, we really got into it and it was hilarious!!!
Day 5: LEAVE FOR DUBLINNNNNNNNNN
Tuesday, 23 March 2010
Tuesday, 16 March 2010
Scotland continued.... Highlands Adventure!
Monday- 7am wake up call.
730am- fast breakfast at hotel
8am- boarded bus for our 12 hour adventure in scenic Scotland!
8pm- assumed arrival back to Edinburgh
It was a early morning but well worth it! A bus a little smaller than a coach bus was our means of transportation for this adventure. There were probably 30 people packed onto the bus, all from different countries... seriously! Mom and I were the only Americans besides a couple from LA. There was the cutest older couple from Ireland, a group of boys my age from Spain, a couple people from Germany, a couple from Hong Kong, people from Czech Republic and probably more but I didn't get a chance to talk to everyone. The funny thing about this was everyone was talking in a different language.... just listening in on other conversations was amusing to me, trying to understand what people were talking about. To top it off, our bus driver was a true-blood Scottish man who had a thick gallic accent. A melting pot bus is a good way to describe it. haha. The first half hour, it was really hard to understand our driver, but I easily overcame that because he would not stop talking so I was forced to understand what he was saying. His name was Chris, and I would say out of the 12 hours we were with him, he talked for a good 11.5 hours of the trip. I loved it! He was so amusing and brutally honest about everything! When we were going from place to place, he had a microphone and would just babble the entire bus trip. I learned more about Scotland's history in my time with him than any history class I have ever taken.
Our first stop took about an hour and a half to get to.... we sped through open land of sheep land and rivers and old buildings! We also passed through the town William Wallace hung out in, back in the day and his castle... Stirling Castle. William Wallace is considered royalty in Scotland. It is understandable why but it is interesting hearing a true Scots perspective on him. Not only did our driver nonstop talk about Wallace and his triumphs, we learned about how historically incorrect the movie Braveheart was. Apparently, William was a 6 foot 7 man with short hair..... Chris was astonished that Mel Gibson played Braveheart in the movie, considering he is an Australian, 5 foot 6 man. This was not okay to Chris. ha. Also, Wallace would not have woren a kilt like he wore in the movie... Not to upset anyone butttttttt he said he thoroughly enjoyed the movie, and the motive itself was politically correct but the details and storyline, not so much.
Anywho, back to our first stop. We stopped at a weaving mill where I met my best friend Hamish... a sheep who gets a lot of attention. There was a little museum, right by Hamish's place to described how wool was made and different types of sheep... Little fun fact, there are 25 different breeds of sheep, who would have known? We only were for about a half an hour then we were on our way to the Hiiiggghhhlllaaaannnddssss.
It made my mom and I a litttttle nervous driving with Chris. One because he drove like a maniac on the narrow, graveled rows going up the mountains and two because he seemed to be too busy talking that whenever someone would talk to him, he would turn around and answer to them, totally not paying attention where he was going.. a girl got car sick because of it.
On this little journey was passed about some of the most amazing scenery. One in particular was a bridge and mountain range where Harry Potter was filmed! In the film, it was when the little wizard children were on the train going to Hogwarts. I also learned here that J.K Rowling is from Scotland and the most down to earth person. Chris informed us that he had her number and once she divorced her husband, he was the second man in line...
Ahhh I just can't get over how beautiful it was up there!!!! The mountains were nothing like the one's in Colorado because they weren't as tall and not really in a range but it was unique seeing them almost kind of randomly placed throughout the land. That may be confusing but the pictures will make more sense. Supposedly, mum and I lucked out again because it was a gorgeous day in the neighborhood. The sun was shining was approximately 15 degrees Celsius (yes I have been forced to use the metric system here on the other side of the pond). We stopped at Glen Coe where the famous battle between the Campbell's and MacDonald's took place many years ago over religion. Campbell's are still not welcomed in this area FYI. I can go into more detail in person about this battle on a later date... it is quite interesting but too long to type out. The battle took place in between these two GORGEOUS mountains, got a pic right in the middle where the blood was shed.
Next stop... Fort William where famous Scotland Whisky is brewed. Scots were the first to brew whiskey BUT whiskey is not a Scots drink of choice I learned. It is the irish that drink it more than scots, just in case anyone was curious. We got to sample some true Scotland whiskey.. which blah I did not like at all. Very bitter and strong and I was not into it. I did see really cool whiskey bottles though. One with a ship inside and one with a fooooootball. I am still astonished and wondering how they do that.... so impressive.
Back on the bus to LOCH NESS woooo to see where the Loch Ness Monster lurks! This area was pretty dang small. I pictured it to be enormous with a lot of action but the town seemed pretty dead. Could be because no one wanted to get eaten by the monster but seems too probable. It was not what I expected... still lovely though and unbelievably gorgeous. Sun was still shining and a got to wip out my sunglasses for the first time I have been here wooo hooo!
Sped down down the mountains and valleys to a memorial for all the soldiers in Iraq war. It was stunning really. Ahh so pretty. Here is where Chris proposed to me. He always dreamt about having an American girlfriend and he thought he would never get a chance again to find one as young as me hence why he he proposed on the stop so I was stuck with him. I couldn't resist because of the view so I am currently engaged to a 53 year old Scottish man. Throughout the rest of the bus trip, on the microphone, he kept referring to me in front of everyone has his Chicago finance. At least I will be marrying someone with the same Scottish bloooooood who is very entertaining.
We drove to a town _____ (can't remember) but it was Queen Victoria used to spend her summers. It was ADORABLE! The buildings and town were so old and unique it made me want to move there! Everything is also so old fashioned. Brilliant really. BUT one very very veryyyyy odd thing we encountered was the bathroom sitch. We had to pay 30 pence to use the toilets. (Yes they prefer toilets here instead of restroom and once some lady would not tell me where it was until I said toilet, very strange I know). But yeah it was so weird. Since when do you have to pay to go to the bathroom? I disliked this greatly and almost refused to go because of it.
After the stop in the cutest town ever we were on our way back to Edinburgh. Everyone had fallen asleep on the bus, yet Chris was still babbling away as if we were all awake and paying attention.... great guy. Amazing trip over all, completely exhausted by the end of it but loved absolutely all of it.
The last day.. sorry I forgot to mention, we saw my absolute favorite thing! Can't believe I forgot it but at the bottom of Royal High Road was Queen Elizabeth's summer Palace.... Holyrood Palace!! It was gorgeous! We got to go inside and see the whole thing too.
One of my favorite things that happened to my mom and I on our trip was in the airport when we arrived in London... mom was waiting for her bag next to the most adorable, little Scottish man. The bags were taking forever to come down the belt out everyone was starting to get a little impatient. Finally, a stroller comes down the baggage line and there was a rip on the belt behind it. My mom says to the man.. " ohhh the stroller is what is the caused the baggage to take so long."
Man responds.. " Stroller? Is that what you call that thing? Oh my dear lord it makes sense now! I was in Connecticut and I saw signs saying 'No strollers in area' and I could not believe it! How am I not a lot to stroll in a public area. What am I suppose to do instead? I was so nervous walking around that I sat most sat most of the trip!"
- Imagine this also in a scottish accent, coming from a little old man. It was adorable!
Apparently in Scotland, they call strolls hamis? Doesn't make sense but it is what it is!
730am- fast breakfast at hotel
8am- boarded bus for our 12 hour adventure in scenic Scotland!
8pm- assumed arrival back to Edinburgh
It was a early morning but well worth it! A bus a little smaller than a coach bus was our means of transportation for this adventure. There were probably 30 people packed onto the bus, all from different countries... seriously! Mom and I were the only Americans besides a couple from LA. There was the cutest older couple from Ireland, a group of boys my age from Spain, a couple people from Germany, a couple from Hong Kong, people from Czech Republic and probably more but I didn't get a chance to talk to everyone. The funny thing about this was everyone was talking in a different language.... just listening in on other conversations was amusing to me, trying to understand what people were talking about. To top it off, our bus driver was a true-blood Scottish man who had a thick gallic accent. A melting pot bus is a good way to describe it. haha. The first half hour, it was really hard to understand our driver, but I easily overcame that because he would not stop talking so I was forced to understand what he was saying. His name was Chris, and I would say out of the 12 hours we were with him, he talked for a good 11.5 hours of the trip. I loved it! He was so amusing and brutally honest about everything! When we were going from place to place, he had a microphone and would just babble the entire bus trip. I learned more about Scotland's history in my time with him than any history class I have ever taken.
Our first stop took about an hour and a half to get to.... we sped through open land of sheep land and rivers and old buildings! We also passed through the town William Wallace hung out in, back in the day and his castle... Stirling Castle. William Wallace is considered royalty in Scotland. It is understandable why but it is interesting hearing a true Scots perspective on him. Not only did our driver nonstop talk about Wallace and his triumphs, we learned about how historically incorrect the movie Braveheart was. Apparently, William was a 6 foot 7 man with short hair..... Chris was astonished that Mel Gibson played Braveheart in the movie, considering he is an Australian, 5 foot 6 man. This was not okay to Chris. ha. Also, Wallace would not have woren a kilt like he wore in the movie... Not to upset anyone butttttttt he said he thoroughly enjoyed the movie, and the motive itself was politically correct but the details and storyline, not so much.
Anywho, back to our first stop. We stopped at a weaving mill where I met my best friend Hamish... a sheep who gets a lot of attention. There was a little museum, right by Hamish's place to described how wool was made and different types of sheep... Little fun fact, there are 25 different breeds of sheep, who would have known? We only were for about a half an hour then we were on our way to the Hiiiggghhhlllaaaannnddssss.
It made my mom and I a litttttle nervous driving with Chris. One because he drove like a maniac on the narrow, graveled rows going up the mountains and two because he seemed to be too busy talking that whenever someone would talk to him, he would turn around and answer to them, totally not paying attention where he was going.. a girl got car sick because of it.
On this little journey was passed about some of the most amazing scenery. One in particular was a bridge and mountain range where Harry Potter was filmed! In the film, it was when the little wizard children were on the train going to Hogwarts. I also learned here that J.K Rowling is from Scotland and the most down to earth person. Chris informed us that he had her number and once she divorced her husband, he was the second man in line...
Ahhh I just can't get over how beautiful it was up there!!!! The mountains were nothing like the one's in Colorado because they weren't as tall and not really in a range but it was unique seeing them almost kind of randomly placed throughout the land. That may be confusing but the pictures will make more sense. Supposedly, mum and I lucked out again because it was a gorgeous day in the neighborhood. The sun was shining was approximately 15 degrees Celsius (yes I have been forced to use the metric system here on the other side of the pond). We stopped at Glen Coe where the famous battle between the Campbell's and MacDonald's took place many years ago over religion. Campbell's are still not welcomed in this area FYI. I can go into more detail in person about this battle on a later date... it is quite interesting but too long to type out. The battle took place in between these two GORGEOUS mountains, got a pic right in the middle where the blood was shed.
Next stop... Fort William where famous Scotland Whisky is brewed. Scots were the first to brew whiskey BUT whiskey is not a Scots drink of choice I learned. It is the irish that drink it more than scots, just in case anyone was curious. We got to sample some true Scotland whiskey.. which blah I did not like at all. Very bitter and strong and I was not into it. I did see really cool whiskey bottles though. One with a ship inside and one with a fooooootball. I am still astonished and wondering how they do that.... so impressive.
Back on the bus to LOCH NESS woooo to see where the Loch Ness Monster lurks! This area was pretty dang small. I pictured it to be enormous with a lot of action but the town seemed pretty dead. Could be because no one wanted to get eaten by the monster but seems too probable. It was not what I expected... still lovely though and unbelievably gorgeous. Sun was still shining and a got to wip out my sunglasses for the first time I have been here wooo hooo!
Sped down down the mountains and valleys to a memorial for all the soldiers in Iraq war. It was stunning really. Ahh so pretty. Here is where Chris proposed to me. He always dreamt about having an American girlfriend and he thought he would never get a chance again to find one as young as me hence why he he proposed on the stop so I was stuck with him. I couldn't resist because of the view so I am currently engaged to a 53 year old Scottish man. Throughout the rest of the bus trip, on the microphone, he kept referring to me in front of everyone has his Chicago finance. At least I will be marrying someone with the same Scottish bloooooood who is very entertaining.
We drove to a town _____ (can't remember) but it was Queen Victoria used to spend her summers. It was ADORABLE! The buildings and town were so old and unique it made me want to move there! Everything is also so old fashioned. Brilliant really. BUT one very very veryyyyy odd thing we encountered was the bathroom sitch. We had to pay 30 pence to use the toilets. (Yes they prefer toilets here instead of restroom and once some lady would not tell me where it was until I said toilet, very strange I know). But yeah it was so weird. Since when do you have to pay to go to the bathroom? I disliked this greatly and almost refused to go because of it.
After the stop in the cutest town ever we were on our way back to Edinburgh. Everyone had fallen asleep on the bus, yet Chris was still babbling away as if we were all awake and paying attention.... great guy. Amazing trip over all, completely exhausted by the end of it but loved absolutely all of it.
The last day.. sorry I forgot to mention, we saw my absolute favorite thing! Can't believe I forgot it but at the bottom of Royal High Road was Queen Elizabeth's summer Palace.... Holyrood Palace!! It was gorgeous! We got to go inside and see the whole thing too.
One of my favorite things that happened to my mom and I on our trip was in the airport when we arrived in London... mom was waiting for her bag next to the most adorable, little Scottish man. The bags were taking forever to come down the belt out everyone was starting to get a little impatient. Finally, a stroller comes down the baggage line and there was a rip on the belt behind it. My mom says to the man.. " ohhh the stroller is what is the caused the baggage to take so long."
Man responds.. " Stroller? Is that what you call that thing? Oh my dear lord it makes sense now! I was in Connecticut and I saw signs saying 'No strollers in area' and I could not believe it! How am I not a lot to stroll in a public area. What am I suppose to do instead? I was so nervous walking around that I sat most sat most of the trip!"
- Imagine this also in a scottish accent, coming from a little old man. It was adorable!
Apparently in Scotland, they call strolls hamis? Doesn't make sense but it is what it is!
Sunday, 14 March 2010
Scotland
So after conquering London, mom and I got on a plane and tried to do the same in Edinburgh, Scotland in the three days we had there. We got there early early Sunday morning and really had no plans. Our hotel didn't have our room ready either so we were kind of just on our own. Luckily, I managed to book a glorious, inexpensive hotel right where all the touristy attractions were. In London, my mom's hotel room was the tiniest thing I have ever seen. It was comparable to a janitors closet... the bed was a full size bed that was pushed up next to the wall and squeezed in between a desk and a TV. My mom and I could not even be in the room at the same time because it was that small. And the bathroom... oh my goodness, it was made for midgets. The sink was abnormally low to the floor and I had to bend half way down to use the shower. After looking at the confirmation sheet, we realized my mom had accidentally booked a "compact double room" instead of a normal double? aka a room for mini people. Well anyways, this hotel was nice because it was made for normal sized people.
Royal High Street, located right where out hotel was, was the main dragggg in Edinburgh. There were so many cute boutiques and souvenir shops that literally had the same type of things but my mom still proceeded to think differently and made us go into ever single one, hoping to find something different. No success..That took up most of the day. We did happen to stumble across a travel store and booked a day trip to the Highlands for Monday which was nice to have a plan since we really didn't know what to do or how to go about getting anywhere.
When check out time came along we took a quick power nap, in our own, normal sized beds. After feeling more rested we hiked to the top of Royal High Street and went in the Edinburgh Castle.... we yet again lucked out today because it was GORGEOUS and sunnnnnnny. This castle was located on a hill so it was even more lovely looking down from the city and seeing all of Edinburgh. All the buildings and churches and shops are all so old looking. I really liked it though because it was different and gave the town more character. It made me realize how new our country is because there is no where in the USA that has anything remotely close to looking like this town.
Anyways the castle was unbelievable. I really felt like I was King Arthur and the Knights of the Round table. We got to see the Great Hall where knights would actually sit for the round table and the bedrooms and other rooms inside the castle. We also got to see where the towns people would congregate and where cannons were fired!!!!!!!! I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Hmmm we came to the conclusion that everyone were way wayyyyy friendly, not that that's a bad thing at at all it was just that people went out of their way to help us. Maybe I am just not used to it because you don't really get that often in London...
Later that evening, mom and I had Scottish pub food at a local pub on Royal High Street. Can't say I really enjoyed it however every meal always comes with chips (aka fries) in the UK so really it was not that bad. It is also very pleasant going out in Scotland because everything is cheaper than London. I mean everywhere else is cheaper but it was a nice change.
We went to bed around 9 that night because we had a big big and early early day Monday. Our charter bus departed at 8:00am and was scheduled to return at 20:00pm that night. 12 hours of sightseeing and driving on a bus.
Royal High Street, located right where out hotel was, was the main dragggg in Edinburgh. There were so many cute boutiques and souvenir shops that literally had the same type of things but my mom still proceeded to think differently and made us go into ever single one, hoping to find something different. No success..That took up most of the day. We did happen to stumble across a travel store and booked a day trip to the Highlands for Monday which was nice to have a plan since we really didn't know what to do or how to go about getting anywhere.
When check out time came along we took a quick power nap, in our own, normal sized beds. After feeling more rested we hiked to the top of Royal High Street and went in the Edinburgh Castle.... we yet again lucked out today because it was GORGEOUS and sunnnnnnny. This castle was located on a hill so it was even more lovely looking down from the city and seeing all of Edinburgh. All the buildings and churches and shops are all so old looking. I really liked it though because it was different and gave the town more character. It made me realize how new our country is because there is no where in the USA that has anything remotely close to looking like this town.
Anyways the castle was unbelievable. I really felt like I was King Arthur and the Knights of the Round table. We got to see the Great Hall where knights would actually sit for the round table and the bedrooms and other rooms inside the castle. We also got to see where the towns people would congregate and where cannons were fired!!!!!!!! I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Hmmm we came to the conclusion that everyone were way wayyyyy friendly, not that that's a bad thing at at all it was just that people went out of their way to help us. Maybe I am just not used to it because you don't really get that often in London...
Later that evening, mom and I had Scottish pub food at a local pub on Royal High Street. Can't say I really enjoyed it however every meal always comes with chips (aka fries) in the UK so really it was not that bad. It is also very pleasant going out in Scotland because everything is cheaper than London. I mean everywhere else is cheaper but it was a nice change.
We went to bed around 9 that night because we had a big big and early early day Monday. Our charter bus departed at 8:00am and was scheduled to return at 20:00pm that night. 12 hours of sightseeing and driving on a bus.
Saturday, 13 March 2010
Friday, 12 March 2010
Mummy's visit to UK
This past weekend was wonderful with my mom. It was about that time when I needed a break from my roommates considering we had been together 24/7 since we have gotten here and I just wanted my mummy! (In Scotland people kept saying, "oh is she your mummy" to me and it kind of just stuck with me ha). It was really ironic that my three other roommates had their families visiting the same time as me! Worked out really well actually. Meg and her parents went to Italy, Lauren and her mom went to Nice in southern France, and Raya and her mom went to a 3 or 4 day spa somewhere in London while Kimbo and I were in Scotland!
Another ironic thing about this weekend was that Lauren and my mom were on the same flight to London... Lauren's mom had a connecting flight in Chicago from Kansas City which happened to be the flight my mom was on so they met on the plane and Lauren and I went together to get them at the airport.
After we dropped their bags off at their hotels we went to this cute cafe in town called Cafe Rouge. It was a french place that was really well decorated with french banners and propaganda. The staff were extremely friendly and nice too. We walked around Kensington for awhile afterwards and then went to take a quick nap before we went to High Tea in Kensington Palace.... High Tea is really popular here. People take a break from work around 3 and 4pm to leisurely drink tea and eat little gourmet cakes and sandwiches. It actually is a really smart idea because usually at this point in the day I am starving and drinking tea and chatting helps curve appetites and not make people pig out when dinner time finally comes around. The palace where we had tea was a garden room and all white and so elegant. This was the first time I had high tea too and it was lovely experiencing it with my mum! An interesting fact that I learned is that European countries celebrate Mom's Day a different day than we do in America. They celebrate it March 14th and we celebrate it May 9th....
Later that night, after we freshened up Lauren, her mom, my mom and I went to the popular Leicester Square where most people go on Friday and Saturday night. There are many restaurants and clubs and pubs on this square so it is entertaining to see all the different people walking around. We went to Sussex Pub on this square to eat delicious fish and chips and to people watch. A couple of my guy friends in my program also joined us later for a drink so it ended up being a good group of people.
Saturday, mom and I got up and went on a 20 to 25 minutes to Harrods! I have been there before, but it truly is unbelievable. There are sooo many different floors of anything you can ever think of. In addition, everything is sooo expensive. The only thing my mom ended up getting was a collar and dog leash for the new puppy, Elvis. ha. My favorite part of the whole store was the food area. The people working at the different stands all wear these goofy hats and matching bow tie outfits. Every stand also is decorated so nicely. There is a candy stand, deli stand, pizza, fish, ice cream stand.. which my mom and I decided to eat at and got a banana split at, hmm 11am in the morning. There were so many exotic and intricate deserts! There also was a HUGEEEEEEE chocolate egg that was 795 pounds. Some people must love going big for Easter...
After my mom and I wondered around Harrods for a couple hours, realizing there was nothing we could honestly afford, we strolled through Hyde Park to Buckingham Palace. My mom got so lucky with the weather. It was soo sunny and beautiful. It had not been that nice since I have been here. I felt pretty bad for her though because I was so excited it was so nice I wanted to walk everywhere. Usually I take either the tube or bus to Harrods and Buckingham Palace and everywhere else but I wanted to take advantage of the weather that I made her walk...EVERYWHERE. We didn't take any form of transportation anywhere besides at the end of the day to go home hahah. She was not too happy about that also because ever since I have been here, I accumulated this new habit of walking very fast. I now hustle down the street and weave in and out of people, as my mom informed me.
Next stop was Trafalgar Square where the famous Trafalgar battle took place and where The National Gallery was. There were so many people out that day too, soaking up the sun, that it was overwhelming walking down the street. We didn't stay there long because of it.
Oxford Circus was our next destination where many department stores and cute little boutiques are. After an hour or so of getting pushed down the crowded streets, I couldn't take it anymore. We were exhausted and annoyed with all the people that we hoped on a bus and went back to the hotel. At this point it was 4pm and we had bought half price tickets for the Lion King for that night so we quick went home, packed our stuff for Scotland, got dressed up and went to Princess Diana's Pizzeria down the street from my place. I had wanted to go to this dinner spot ever since I had gotten here but since money was pretty tight, and none of my friends and I can afford going out to dinner, I figured this would be the perfect time to go, with mummy. It was wonderful! There were paintings for Diana all over this little restaurant and Diana specials all over the menu. I loved it and so happy we got to eat there!
Lion King was AMAZING!!!! We met Lauren and her mom at the theatre and ended up having really great seats.... 8th row, for half price! The costumes were absolutely unbelievable and the singing was outstanding. I felt like a little kid again seeing this play and it brought back so many memories that made me happy! I recommend seeing this musical for sure!
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